Habeas Corpus Preview
Play: Habeas Corpus
Venue: Drama Barn
Running: Thursday 28th - Sunday 2nd March
Starring:Mark Smith, Polly Ingham, Jonathan Kerridge-Phipps, Laura Henderson
Habeus Corpus is a characteristically Alan Bennett play, with plenty of farce tempered with frequent musings on class structure. The effects of the revolution of sexual openness on the middle class are exuberantly played out in the Wicksteed household, as narrated by their sniping working class maid.
The action focusses on head of the house Arthur Wicksteed, an apparently respectable GP who comes dramatically unstuck when the stunning young aristocrat Felicity Rumpers calls in for an examination. His neglected wife Muriel, hypochondriac son Dennis and embarrassingly straight-laced sister Constance complete a thoroughly dysfunctional family.
Veterans Jonathan Kerridge-Phipps (recently impressing in The Maids) and Mark Smith both put in accomplished turns. Smith leads the cast well as Arthur Wicksteed, spending much time on stage alone, and delivers his soliloquies excellently. Kerridge-Phipps provides great comedy as the frustratedly celibate Canon Throbbing.
Alongside them, three Drama Barn debutants stand out. Polly Ingham shines as the head-turning Felicity Rumpers and Gethin James terrorises proceedings as the violent and arrogant Sir Percy Shorter. Meanwhile, Laura Henderson handles her role as the curiously cheerful and manipulative Mrs Swabb with aplomb, using a distinctively working class accent to contrast
well with the rest of the cast.
There are some fine directorial touches to be seen too. Lady Rumpers’ speech impediment is not in the original script, but undercuts her pompousness to great comic effect. The sparse set of just three chairs is used effectively, being casually and unobtrusively moved around by the actors as required. Finally the costume was very well-chosen, perfectly fitting for each character, and allowing a particularly striking entrance for Felicity Rumpers.
The sexually-charged nature of the play provided many challenging scenes, but neither physical contact nor exposure seemed to faze the cast. Frequently this was farcical, with half of the male cast going trouserless at various points, but smooth execution avoided this becoming too absurd. Given the comic nature of most of the play, the rarer tender moments risked
being interpreted similarly, but their exceptionally mature performance totally prevented this.
All in all, this impressive production provides a great deal of entertainment, with the opportunity to admire some first-class acting, and, as ever with Bennett, much more to think about than it first appears. I for one would be very surprised if anyone watching realises this is the directorial duo’s debut.
Habeas Corpus runs Thursday through Sunday at 7:30pm in the Drama Barn.
